HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Today, I am baking a Pumpkin Dump Cake for our family Thanksgiving Dinner dessert. I will give you the recipe later.
While watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I was disturbed by the thought that Christmas starts earlier every year. Hallmark stores put out the ornaments to collect in JUNE. The trees in our local shopping center are lit the day after Halloween. And, THIS song starts on Thanksgiving Day, or Black Friday.
Christmas has officially begun for me.
Have a Blessed Day!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Second Season Of The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Bloggers
I promised a little more light and a lot less darkness in this post. I also promised pictures. You are getting both today. As promised. Insert Smile here. :-)
This week has been a little crazy. I have had appointments, expectations, housework. I have also done without company for most of the evenings, as DH has been doing part-time radio production as well as his full-time job. I have spent a lot of time cleaning the house (the work NEVER ends, really), and more time than necessary on the laptop.
I spent this past weekend watching little ones for friends and family. This is Alex.
The first thing I heard him do when he came to my house was original. He said, "cat" and clicked at them. The last thing he did on the way out the door was deep knee bends, with shouting... I figured out that this was a mimic of Daddy, who teaches Tae Kwon Do. You can see my shoe rack by the front door in the back ground of the picture... Alex was convinced that I had my shoes organized incorrectly. He spent most of an hour rearranging them for me. Quite amusing.
This is Jelly Bean trying to hug Gum Drop, and Gum Drop having none of that. They both are great at moving all the time. It is tough to get a clear picture. I don't think pictures really do them justice.
Gum Drop had come home from a fresh hair cut - his first! He was quite handsome. Jelly Bean had gotten her really long hair trimmed, and she was the first to tell me of the difference. Here is Jelly's Hair. Yeah, I'm not jealous of the "Cousin It" view at all... No, really, I'm not!
Today was really good too. Mamma Mia and her Hunny came from Colorado, and we met for lunch today. Pumkin was sure to tell me that she didn't remember me. I told her that was OK. She had only met me once, and it was months ago! Isn't she cute?
Now, Sugar Plum's real name and Jelly Bean's real name are the same. And Hunny's name and BIL's name are the same. So we don't have a hard time remembering Mamma Mia's family's names. Sugar Plum is a cutie, too. See?
Here is the picture that her Hunny took of us. Left, Mamma Mia. Right, Chelf. I am not going to beat myself up over my opinion of my image. I have Jared to thank for making me see that the pictures are not for me, but for YOU. I know how I look and I don't like it much, but it is how I am right now. It is my present. It is my history, and may be valuable in the future when I have lost all this weight that I constantly fight with. It was a GOOD Hair Day, so I shouldn't complain at all!
I hadn't really thought of it before, but he made a face today, and I noticed how much her Hunny looks like Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales). Am I crazy, or do you see it too?
{Edit: To prove the thought, remember that when Veggie Tales started, Phil Vischer was a lot younger... and had dark hair. And I have seen the "behind the scenes" extras on the videos, so that is where I think the expression I saw came from. This picture I got from his entry on Wikipedia. Here is the link. Thanks.}
The most important part of the day was lunch. No, not the eating of the lunch, but the visiting and friendship. We got to watch the kids play, and we got to have a relaxing time. These visits really don't last long enough for me. But, the girls were getting tired; the eventual result of that is, of course, cranky. Oh, and Mamma Mia brought me Pueblo, CO Green Chiles... to compare with my favorite Hatch, NM Green Chiles. I have a lot of chiles now, and it will take a lot of Chili recipes to go through it all. How yummy this winter eating will be.
I am looking for a shop to buy bulk spices... loose flavorings sold by weight. If you know of such a shop online, that is fine, but I was hoping for some place local. I live in Oklahoma City, and I am willing to go to Tulsa or Wichita, but not much further. If I can get there and back again (yes, I realize I made a literary reference... that was on purpose) in one day, I would like to have a reason to go besides the spices. Please leave me comments with your suggestions. Thanks!
I wish for everyone to have a pleasant and fulfilling Thanksgiving holiday!
This week has been a little crazy. I have had appointments, expectations, housework. I have also done without company for most of the evenings, as DH has been doing part-time radio production as well as his full-time job. I have spent a lot of time cleaning the house (the work NEVER ends, really), and more time than necessary on the laptop.
I spent this past weekend watching little ones for friends and family. This is Alex.
The first thing I heard him do when he came to my house was original. He said, "cat" and clicked at them. The last thing he did on the way out the door was deep knee bends, with shouting... I figured out that this was a mimic of Daddy, who teaches Tae Kwon Do. You can see my shoe rack by the front door in the back ground of the picture... Alex was convinced that I had my shoes organized incorrectly. He spent most of an hour rearranging them for me. Quite amusing.
This is Jelly Bean trying to hug Gum Drop, and Gum Drop having none of that. They both are great at moving all the time. It is tough to get a clear picture. I don't think pictures really do them justice.
Gum Drop had come home from a fresh hair cut - his first! He was quite handsome. Jelly Bean had gotten her really long hair trimmed, and she was the first to tell me of the difference. Here is Jelly's Hair. Yeah, I'm not jealous of the "Cousin It" view at all... No, really, I'm not!
Today was really good too. Mamma Mia and her Hunny came from Colorado, and we met for lunch today. Pumkin was sure to tell me that she didn't remember me. I told her that was OK. She had only met me once, and it was months ago! Isn't she cute?
Now, Sugar Plum's real name and Jelly Bean's real name are the same. And Hunny's name and BIL's name are the same. So we don't have a hard time remembering Mamma Mia's family's names. Sugar Plum is a cutie, too. See?
Here is the picture that her Hunny took of us. Left, Mamma Mia. Right, Chelf. I am not going to beat myself up over my opinion of my image. I have Jared to thank for making me see that the pictures are not for me, but for YOU. I know how I look and I don't like it much, but it is how I am right now. It is my present. It is my history, and may be valuable in the future when I have lost all this weight that I constantly fight with. It was a GOOD Hair Day, so I shouldn't complain at all!
I hadn't really thought of it before, but he made a face today, and I noticed how much her Hunny looks like Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales). Am I crazy, or do you see it too?
{Edit: To prove the thought, remember that when Veggie Tales started, Phil Vischer was a lot younger... and had dark hair. And I have seen the "behind the scenes" extras on the videos, so that is where I think the expression I saw came from. This picture I got from his entry on Wikipedia. Here is the link. Thanks.}
The most important part of the day was lunch. No, not the eating of the lunch, but the visiting and friendship. We got to watch the kids play, and we got to have a relaxing time. These visits really don't last long enough for me. But, the girls were getting tired; the eventual result of that is, of course, cranky. Oh, and Mamma Mia brought me Pueblo, CO Green Chiles... to compare with my favorite Hatch, NM Green Chiles. I have a lot of chiles now, and it will take a lot of Chili recipes to go through it all. How yummy this winter eating will be.
I am looking for a shop to buy bulk spices... loose flavorings sold by weight. If you know of such a shop online, that is fine, but I was hoping for some place local. I live in Oklahoma City, and I am willing to go to Tulsa or Wichita, but not much further. If I can get there and back again (yes, I realize I made a literary reference... that was on purpose) in one day, I would like to have a reason to go besides the spices. Please leave me comments with your suggestions. Thanks!
I wish for everyone to have a pleasant and fulfilling Thanksgiving holiday!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Complaining To Your English Teacher For Failing Math
I have been very political lately, and it has been quite by accident. Originally, I never intended to show my true feelings on some of these subjects. I have done a lot to keep things happy, pretty, and nice. I am quite opinionated, but I didn't really mean to show that to the whole world. I can have the opinions without expressing them. But lately... I can barely help myself. The issues have been so close to home, and so heated, I could not resist telling others to sit down, shut up and look at things from another perspective. Mine, of course!
I actually have wonderful close friends. We all have the freedom to speak, we are all willing to hear and express differing ideas, and still be friends even if we don't agree. My Wednesday night Bible Study class is doing the same thing, with people who aren't so much "friends" but my "church family"... which is more distant and yet closer. Yeah, I am confused, too. It all boils down to me being so blessed by the people I choose to have around me. If you are reading this, that blessing includes you.
Now for the dazzling intellectual, and still political, discussion of the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~
I am confused. When one protests, shouldn't it be near the people who did something that you didn't like, and who can do something different about it now? If one wants to oppose the passing of Prop 8 in California, shouldn't one BE IN California? I saw on the news on November 14 that a man and his friends were going to spend a cold and windy Saturday (Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!) protesting California's Prop 8 at our own State Capitol Building. In case you missed it, I live in Oklahoma.
I guess I am not an activist. I am certainly not a lobbyist, or a protester. I have handed out pamphlets, but that was to promote education about entertainment. The movie "The Day After Tomorrow" was pure fiction, and not very good fiction at that. We just wanted people to understand that they had just seen a propaganda film. The Theater Management was concerned that we were telling people not to come to their shows. Quite the contrary, we WANTED people to see the move, but to understand it. We were handing out fliers as people were exiting the show. I have decided not to do that again. What good did it really do? I would have just been annoyed with the person on the flip side of that situation.
I am all for self-expression. I am all for Civil Rights. I am even all for gay Americans to have a legal union if they want one. That probably surprises some of you. I cannot justify legislating my moral values on a world that denies God. I can influence gays one at a time, or not at all if I choose. If they want to stay in their lifestyle, God lets them, so I cannot stop them, by making their actions illegal or by telling them they are lost. I should not try to force the happy heathens of the world to abide by my values. Christ told us to abide by the laws of the land, so long as those laws do not prevent us from doing the work of God. So... if people in Connecticut want to allow gay couples to wed, I don't get to do much about it. (Doesn't stop me from SAYING whatever I wish...)
I think the issue in California, and all over the country, isn't that the "bigots" are out in force trying to clean up everyone's bedroom behavior. I think the grass-roots conservative voters are offended that gays want to call it "marriage". Call it a civil union. Call it whatever, except for marriage. I believe that "marriage" was designed by God. God calls a gay relationship a sin, but it still happens every day all over the world. The Gay/Lesbian/Transgender crowd already twisted the meaning of a simple rainbow (Christians will tell you that is also a gift from God), and now they want to twist marriage, too. Not fair!
Come up with a new word, all your own; be creative! Call it "egairram". (marriage, spelled backwards) Call it "Gommorage". Call it "Sodomage". It is a perversion of the union of one man and one woman that was created by God as a gift to mankind. Don't use the name God gave it, as you are denying the Will of God.
That is all, for now. I will make the next post something happier. Something with pictures. Something light. Something soon.
I actually have wonderful close friends. We all have the freedom to speak, we are all willing to hear and express differing ideas, and still be friends even if we don't agree. My Wednesday night Bible Study class is doing the same thing, with people who aren't so much "friends" but my "church family"... which is more distant and yet closer. Yeah, I am confused, too. It all boils down to me being so blessed by the people I choose to have around me. If you are reading this, that blessing includes you.
Now for the dazzling intellectual, and still political, discussion of the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~
I am confused. When one protests, shouldn't it be near the people who did something that you didn't like, and who can do something different about it now? If one wants to oppose the passing of Prop 8 in California, shouldn't one BE IN California? I saw on the news on November 14 that a man and his friends were going to spend a cold and windy Saturday (Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!) protesting California's Prop 8 at our own State Capitol Building. In case you missed it, I live in Oklahoma.
I guess I am not an activist. I am certainly not a lobbyist, or a protester. I have handed out pamphlets, but that was to promote education about entertainment. The movie "The Day After Tomorrow" was pure fiction, and not very good fiction at that. We just wanted people to understand that they had just seen a propaganda film. The Theater Management was concerned that we were telling people not to come to their shows. Quite the contrary, we WANTED people to see the move, but to understand it. We were handing out fliers as people were exiting the show. I have decided not to do that again. What good did it really do? I would have just been annoyed with the person on the flip side of that situation.
I am all for self-expression. I am all for Civil Rights. I am even all for gay Americans to have a legal union if they want one. That probably surprises some of you. I cannot justify legislating my moral values on a world that denies God. I can influence gays one at a time, or not at all if I choose. If they want to stay in their lifestyle, God lets them, so I cannot stop them, by making their actions illegal or by telling them they are lost. I should not try to force the happy heathens of the world to abide by my values. Christ told us to abide by the laws of the land, so long as those laws do not prevent us from doing the work of God. So... if people in Connecticut want to allow gay couples to wed, I don't get to do much about it. (Doesn't stop me from SAYING whatever I wish...)
I think the issue in California, and all over the country, isn't that the "bigots" are out in force trying to clean up everyone's bedroom behavior. I think the grass-roots conservative voters are offended that gays want to call it "marriage". Call it a civil union. Call it whatever, except for marriage. I believe that "marriage" was designed by God. God calls a gay relationship a sin, but it still happens every day all over the world. The Gay/Lesbian/Transgender crowd already twisted the meaning of a simple rainbow (Christians will tell you that is also a gift from God), and now they want to twist marriage, too. Not fair!
Come up with a new word, all your own; be creative! Call it "egairram". (marriage, spelled backwards) Call it "Gommorage". Call it "Sodomage". It is a perversion of the union of one man and one woman that was created by God as a gift to mankind. Don't use the name God gave it, as you are denying the Will of God.
That is all, for now. I will make the next post something happier. Something with pictures. Something light. Something soon.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Sound Of Silence Has A Loud Echo
I wanted to blog. I needed to blog. I got to thinking of how much I have not blogged lately. I sat at the laptop, thinking of all the things I should be doing (oh, the list is long and there is a lot of work on it), and of the election results. The poem in the previous post just rather jumped out of me. It has been a long time since I wrote much poetry. I have always enjoyed writing, and I have some poetry that I would like to share here. (Buried in a box in my spare room, and pretty close to lost right now.) I can say that writing has saved my life on at least two occasions. Unfortunately, that is literal, and not figurative.
I think every girl probably thinks about suicide, especially in Jr. High, when it is fashionable to make a feeble attempt. I came to the conclusion that everyone hated me, and I was worth nothing. I believe God nudged me to call a friend, and talk it out, and she nudged me to write it all down. Those were some powerful poems, and I may never share them with anyone. I don't quite "get" them anymore. I read one a few weeks ago, and was struck by how morbid it sounded, and how I left it there. I never really resolved the poem, even though it had helped me to resolve my feelings. No wonder the people who read it (all 2 of them) thought I was still in the gloom.
I will have you all know (please, no desperate calls) that I am fine. I am not in a funk, even though the election didn't make me happy. I have some family issues that are causing minor stress, but God is here, and I am going to make it.
Speaking of family... my Grams is in the hospital right now with a bad case of pneumonia. I have been hearing from the Aunts for two years or more that the next big bad cold she got might be the end of her. If it becomes necessary to gather the family, Mom would have to come from NM to KS, and travel would be slow and quite inconvenient. I don't know what to ask for, other than your good thoughts and prayers. I don't know the path for Grams' health. All I know is that God is in control of it all, and I want HIM to be the one to make the tough choices, and I need HIM to hold my hand through it all.
I need more sunshine. Winter is hard for me, I get stuck in the Seasonal Affect blues, and it is hard to snap out of them. Even when I am not out IN the sunshine, having it through the window is good.
OK, for those of you who have been in my house at any time in the past four years.... I mopped the kitchen. Yes, you read me right, I mopped! I am cleaning for the jewelry party I am having on Friday night... and I decided that the house needed to be clean. People would notice if I didn't clean a little deeper, so I got a new mop and got out the Pine Sol Lemon, and I mopped. Once I find the floor underneath all the boxes in the dining room, I plan to mop that too. Have I said recently how much I hate housework? And that I have never really had a clean house to maintain? Yeah, I am trying to change that this week.
I am such a procrastinator. This week has been all about moving stuff from view, and cleaning the dust bunnies that have hidden underneath it for far too long. I should have done this almost 2 years ago, when I first quit my job to stay home. Ah, well. At least I will have something nice to show for it. A party! With friends! And they may not be scared to come back to my home!
Enough procrastinating now, too. I am going to take some of this junk to Goodwill, and move the rest of it around, and clean more of the floor.
Have a sparkly day!
I think every girl probably thinks about suicide, especially in Jr. High, when it is fashionable to make a feeble attempt. I came to the conclusion that everyone hated me, and I was worth nothing. I believe God nudged me to call a friend, and talk it out, and she nudged me to write it all down. Those were some powerful poems, and I may never share them with anyone. I don't quite "get" them anymore. I read one a few weeks ago, and was struck by how morbid it sounded, and how I left it there. I never really resolved the poem, even though it had helped me to resolve my feelings. No wonder the people who read it (all 2 of them) thought I was still in the gloom.
I will have you all know (please, no desperate calls) that I am fine. I am not in a funk, even though the election didn't make me happy. I have some family issues that are causing minor stress, but God is here, and I am going to make it.
Speaking of family... my Grams is in the hospital right now with a bad case of pneumonia. I have been hearing from the Aunts for two years or more that the next big bad cold she got might be the end of her. If it becomes necessary to gather the family, Mom would have to come from NM to KS, and travel would be slow and quite inconvenient. I don't know what to ask for, other than your good thoughts and prayers. I don't know the path for Grams' health. All I know is that God is in control of it all, and I want HIM to be the one to make the tough choices, and I need HIM to hold my hand through it all.
I need more sunshine. Winter is hard for me, I get stuck in the Seasonal Affect blues, and it is hard to snap out of them. Even when I am not out IN the sunshine, having it through the window is good.
OK, for those of you who have been in my house at any time in the past four years.... I mopped the kitchen. Yes, you read me right, I mopped! I am cleaning for the jewelry party I am having on Friday night... and I decided that the house needed to be clean. People would notice if I didn't clean a little deeper, so I got a new mop and got out the Pine Sol Lemon, and I mopped. Once I find the floor underneath all the boxes in the dining room, I plan to mop that too. Have I said recently how much I hate housework? And that I have never really had a clean house to maintain? Yeah, I am trying to change that this week.
I am such a procrastinator. This week has been all about moving stuff from view, and cleaning the dust bunnies that have hidden underneath it for far too long. I should have done this almost 2 years ago, when I first quit my job to stay home. Ah, well. At least I will have something nice to show for it. A party! With friends! And they may not be scared to come back to my home!
Enough procrastinating now, too. I am going to take some of this junk to Goodwill, and move the rest of it around, and clean more of the floor.
Have a sparkly day!
How Long?
How long shall silence sit in cloister?
What shall free my soul of fear?
The God of all will judge,
The gavel is not mine to wield.
How long shall fretting be my path?
What shall calm my stormy thoughts?
The God of all will rule,
The life I live is His to guide.
How long shall honor work to free?
What shall protect the soldiers?
The God of all is with them,
Their safety in His mighty wing.
How long shall governance oppress?
What shall feed the hungry heart?
The God of all is with me yet,
The food I share is His gift.
How long shall righteousness be trampled?
What shall make her stand once more?
The God of all supports her foot,
The goal invisible is her reward.
How long shall mourning steal my joy?
What shall bring dancing to these halls?
The God of all leads the band,
The first and last dances His card holds.
What shall free my soul of fear?
The God of all will judge,
The gavel is not mine to wield.
How long shall fretting be my path?
What shall calm my stormy thoughts?
The God of all will rule,
The life I live is His to guide.
How long shall honor work to free?
What shall protect the soldiers?
The God of all is with them,
Their safety in His mighty wing.
How long shall governance oppress?
What shall feed the hungry heart?
The God of all is with me yet,
The food I share is His gift.
How long shall righteousness be trampled?
What shall make her stand once more?
The God of all supports her foot,
The goal invisible is her reward.
How long shall mourning steal my joy?
What shall bring dancing to these halls?
The God of all leads the band,
The first and last dances His card holds.
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